Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Jean Gabriel Lemoine papers relating to Morgan Russell, 1921-1923, 1964, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.lemojean
Creators:
Lemoine, Jean Gabriel, b. 1891
Dates:
1921-1923, 1964
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.2 Linear feet
Repository:
The Jean Gabriel Lemoine papers relating to Morgan Russell measure 0.2 linear feet and are comprised of 20 items that date from 1921-1923 and 1964. The item dating from 1964 is a typescript of a letter fragment. Included are 17 letters and letter fragments written by Morgan Russell in 1923 to Jean Gabriel Lemoine, art critic for L'Echo de Paris. In these letters Russell explains his art and the Synchromism style that he developed with Stanton MacDonald-Wright. Also found are a one page list naming ten paintings in his studio, an article by Lemoine about Russell, and a typed extract about Russell from La Peinture Abstraite by Michel Senghor.

Scope and Content Note

Scope and Content Note
The Jean Gabriel Lemoine papers relating to Morgan Russell measure 0.2 linear feet and are comprised of 20 items that date from 1921-1923 and 1964. Included are 17 letters and letter fragments written by Morgan Russell in 1923 to Jean Gabriel Lemoine, art critic for L'Echo de Paris. One item dates from 1964 and is a typescript of a letter fragment. In these letters Russell explains his art and the Synchromism style that he developed with Stanton MacDonald-Wright. Also found are a one page list naming ten paintings in his studio, written in 1921 in Morgan Russell's hand, a news clipping of article by Lemoine about Russell, and a typed extract about Russell from La Peinture Abstraite by Michel Senghor. All of the items in the collection are in French. The collection also includes a few notes about the items in each folder, probably written by Lemoine.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Due to the small size of this collection, items are arranged into one series.
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Jean Gabriel Lemoine papers relating to Morgan Russell, 1921-1923, 1964 (Box 1; 5 folders)

Biographical Note

Biographical Note
Jean Gabriel Lemoine was an art critic for L'Echo de Paris at the time that he corresponded with abstract painter Morgan Russell (1886-1953). Lemoine also wrote for Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Revue Belge d'Archeologie et d'histoire de l'Art and Beaux Arts Magazine. Morgan Russell studied at the Art Students League in New York with James Earle Fraser and Robert Henri from 1906 to 1907. His first trip to Europe in 1906 was sponsored by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, and he returned to Paris in 1908 and joined the Academie Matisse. He settled in Paris and did not return to the United States until 1946. In 1911 he studied with Canadian color theorist Ernest Tudor-Hart. Also at this time he met fellow artist Stanton Macdonald-Wright with whom he developed the theories of Synchromism. In 1913 he and Macdonald-Wright exhibited together as Synchromists at the Bernheim-Jeune gallery, Paris, where they attracted the attention of French critics, including Lemoine. Russell continued to paint abstract works until 1930 when he began painting large-scale religious works.

Administration

Author
Eric Frazier and Erin Corley
Sponsor
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Provenance
The papers were transferred to the Archives from the National Collection of Fine Arts (now the Smithsonian American Art Museum) in 1976. NCFA acquired them as part of a purchase in 1972 of Russell's artwork from Lucien Goldschmidt, Inc.
Separated Material
One annotated exhibition catalog, Les Synchromistes: Morgan Russell et S. Macdonald-Wright, from 1913, and four photographs of Russell's artwork were kept by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Portrait Gallery Library when they transferred the collection to the Archives of American Art. These items are also available on microfilm reel 1190 at the Archives of American Art.
Alternative Forms Available
The papers of Jean Gabriel Lemoine relating to Morgan Russell in the Archives of American Art. The papers were digitized in
2008
and total
79
images.
Processing Information
The papers were microfilmed upon receipt on microfilm reel 1190. The collection was fully processed by Eric Frazier and Erin Corley in 2006-2007 and digitized in 2008 with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Jean Gabriel Lemoine papers relating to Morgan Russell, 1921-1923, 1964. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Restrictions on Access
The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website.
Terms of Use
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

Related Material
Also available at the Archives of American Art are the Stanton Macdonald-Wright letters to Morgan Russell, 1913-1938, found on microfilm reel 1266. Microfilm reels 4524-4542 contain Morgan Russell papers that were loaned for filming by the Montclair Art Museum in 1991.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Art critics -- France -- Paris Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Synchromism (Art) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Russell, Morgan, 1886-1953 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Macdonald-Wright, Stanton, 1890-1973 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Senghor, Michael Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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